Chapter 10

Early afternoon, they got a call from the police with an update. They were bringing Wu in for questioning and would like Claire and Owen to attend, if possible. They hesitated for a moment, neither wanting the other to go but each wanting to go themselves. They were equally torn at the idea of leaving Maisie, who had been sticking by their sides since she had awakened. In the end, they decided they should both go, and they asked Zia to come hang out with Maisie while they were gone. Even though Maisie begged them to tag along, neither was willing to allow her within 10 feet of Wu.

At the station, they were led into a conference room with a large table. On the far side of the table sat Wu, accompanied by who they assumed was his lawyer, with a few officers and other personnel scattered around the table and room. They took seats directly across from Wu.

Wu gave them both a large smile, as he greeted them. "Dr. Grady."

"Wu," Owen replied curtly.

"That's Dr. Wu," Wu looked offended at the lack of his title.

"Not to me," Owen disagreed.

"Ms. Dearing," Wu turned to her next.

"Dr–" Claire had a quick glance over at Owen who was glaring at Wu, before correcting herself. "Henry." He may have finally called her Ms. Dearing, but she had decided after last night that he didn't deserve any respect from her.

"Taking your orders from him now, are you?" Wu sneered. "So unlike you. Thought you'd want to be the boss, at home and at work. That's what you like, isn't it?"

Claire could feel Owen tensing beside her, ready to strike. Normally, she would have a good comeback herself. She'd dealt with more than her fair share of men who weren't happy to have a woman leading them. But after their conversation that morning, all she could think about was Owen's voice when he told her she worked all the time. That he felt like he was the only one sacrificing for their family. That he had nothing but Maisie. And she no longer felt sure-footed.

She'd always been a leader. And she always viewed herself, and Owen, as leading together; co-leads, if you will. But now, to know that he hadn't seen it that way? That even though he didn't use the words, he was likely feeling emasculated by her? She had never and would never want that for him. Considering all this, she was unsure how to respond. Every answer she came up with, every retort, every line, felt like a minefield. She sat there silently and didn't respond to Wu's taunting. Instead, what she wanted to do, was to reach for Owen, to grab his hand in hers, but would that seem comforting or emasculating? She folded her hands in her lap.

Owen, for his part, wanted to leap across the table. His hands were in fists, aching with the need to give Wu a black eye to match his own. But Claire's lack of response threw him. It wasn't like her to let someone get away with a comment like that.

Just as he was about to give her a questioning look, an officer at the head of the table introduced everyone. The officer stated that the reason for the gathering was to discuss the incident that occurred at the Grady-Dearing residence and to see if they could come to an understanding.

Owen couldn't prevent his scoff, muttering, loud enough for pretty much the entire room to hear, "'Incident,' right."

Before anyone else could say anything, Wu's lawyer spoke up. "I'd like to remind everyone that my client is here voluntarily. He was not present at the house last night and insists that he has no connection to whatever occurred."

Owen couldn't limit himself to a mutter on that. "Oh give me a break," he rolled his eyes. "Wu knows exactly what went down last night. I'm sure he's done an admirable job distancing himself from it, but, please, tell me why you think anyone else in the world would be climbing through our 12-year-old daughter's window to collect a blood sample?"

This time it was Wu's turn to scoff. "'Your' daughter? Please. She's a scientific experiment. Besides, I heard the adop–" He didn't get to finish as Owen was halfway across the top of the table before Claire and a couple of officers grabbed hold of him and worked to pull him back.

"Say it again, Wu," Owen spat. "I dare you to call Maisie that again."

"Whoa," Wu's lawyer spoke up again, voice threatening. "We did not come here to be attacked. If Mr. Grady can't keep ahold of himself, we will leave."

"Then, we'll see you in court," Owen seethed. Claire and the officers now had him standing, his chair tipped over on the ground, knocked aside when he'd launched himself over the table. He was breathing heavily, and no one seemed inclined to let him go yet, the anger radiating off him in almost visible waves.

"Now, now, now, let's not be hasty," Wu raised his hands in a calming gesture. "We came here to talk, so let's talk."

"Why should we talk to you?" Owen demanded. "What do you have to offer? You should've been locked away years ago. Everything, everything, that's gone wrong with the dinosaurs can be traced directly back to you. You're the only one who's been there since the very beginning. All of this," Owen gestured around, although it wasn't clear what he was referring to exactly, "is happening because you're such a goddamn egomaniac. Never satisfied with what you've done. Always needing to reach higher. To break that next barrier. To put your name in the history books. Saying you've gone too far is such a fucking understatement. You went too far with the Indominus, and everything since then?" Owen finally ran out of steam, his anger starting to dissipate and frustration taking over. "And you couldn't even stop with just messing with dinosaurs. Now, you want to mess with our daughter too." He shook off the hands holding him and picked up his chair, before slumping onto it, resting his arms on the table, facing Wu straight on. "You want to talk? Fine. Talk. Convince me that your life is something I should give a fuck about."

Owen was staring so intently at Wu, he barely registered Claire sitting down next to him, or the others returning to their seats and positions around the room. His focus had narrowed on Wu and he was pretty sure a bomb could go off and he wouldn't notice.

"I'm dying," Wu stated.

"So, what?"

"Three years ago, I barely survived the incident at the Lockwood Estate. I spent months in a private burn unit, being carefully pieced back together. And even then, even with all the money I spent, look at me. I'm not whole. Our current medical knowledge doesn't allow for that. Advancements in medicine happen at a glacial rate compared to pretty much every other field out there. We've put in so many restrictions, so many roadblocks, that it takes astronomical funding, luck, and perseverance for any progress," Owen's brow was furrowed in concentration, wondering where Wu was going with this, but he didn't interrupt, letting Wu continue. "The advances I have made in genetics over the course of my career have been unparalleled. But, the very heavy-handed NDAs that were placed on my research have meant that I have always been unable to share those advances, to allow others to benefit and, perhaps, even improve upon them. Now, however, that's all changed. I want to use my knowledge for the greater good. I want to share what I've learned with the wider world, and I want them to take my work and make it even better." Wu looked searchingly at both Claire and Owen, but neither of them said anything. "I no longer have the same … benefactors behind my research anymore. Between that, and having to deal with my own health issues, I can no longer progress at the rate that I've grown used to." Wu clasped his hands and placed them on the table in front of him. This time, he didn't continue, waiting for a response.

"What do you expect us to say to that?" Owen was the first to break the silence. He continued, sarcastically, "We're so sorry that you've lost your billionaire funders? What a hard life you've led. What could we possibly do to make it better?" He sneered for a second, before his voice returned to normal. "Give me a fucking break, Wu. We weren't born yesterday. Something else is going on. You've obviously found a source of funding for the past three years." He held up his hand, when Wu went to respond. "No need to say what it is, I'm sure I already know. I find it hard to believe that after your so-called prolific progress in genetics with bringing an extinct species back to life, created using random broken DNA strings found in mosquitoes trapped in amber, that you're finally being tripped up by a simple human cloning issue. Lost research docs or not. What do you want with Maisie?"

"I have no interest in Maisie," Wu looked put upon.

"Bullshit," Owen shook his head. He pointed his finger at Wu. "Either you tell us, or we walk. We don't have to put up with this either."

"I wish I could say that I was deserving of all that praise," Wu stated, to which both Claire and Owen rolled their eyes. "But I'm not, what did you call me, Claire? Oh yes, 'playing God.' I'm not doing that. I had nothing to do with the incident at your place." It was Wu's turn to raise a hand to prevent another outburst from Owen. "Oh, give it up Mr. Grady, you know you'll never connect me to that. I will admit that I would like to have access to Maisie. And I do believe her to be the key to solving the problems we are currently encountering in our own research. I find it very hard to believe that the two of you, the… How did Mills like to refer to you? Oh yes, 'parents of the new world' would be so against saving lives. Haven't you destroyed enough?"

Claire and the officers were faster that time, and Owen didn't even manage to get out of his chair.

"Fuck you, Wu," Owen hissed. "Fuck you."

"Let's go," Claire tugged on his arm. "We're not going to get anything out of this."

"Agreed," Owen immediately stood up and headed for the door.

"You know, you may not want to work with me. You may disagree with everything I've done. But you can't run away from it," Wu said, as Claire and Owen were leaving. They both paused in the doorway, but neither turned back to face him. "You can't run from knowledge. And you can't destroy it. Once gained, knowledge persists. Ignoring it? Burying your head in the sand? It doesn't make it any less true. Or any less known. Remember that."

x x x

Barely 24 hours later there was another breaking news bulletin flashing across the screen, interrupting the current news program. Before Maisie or Owen could even think of calling for Claire, they could hear her hurrying towards them through the house.

"Zia just texted me about–" Claire said, bursting into the room. She stopped when she realized they were already on the news channel, and instead just moved over to join them. Owen was sitting at one end of the couch, with Maisie cuddled up right beside him, her legs stretched along the couch. Maisie shifted slightly, freeing up some space for Claire, who sat down, hands tapping nervously on her legs.

Since they had returned from their interview, Maisie had continued to stick by their sides, refusing to let them both out of her sight at the same time. The previous evening, the idea of even going near her room to get ready for bed had caused Maisie to shake with fear. The event still too raw, Claire and Owen hadn't wanted to push the issue that evening. Instead, it had been a long evening / night camped out in the living room, movie after movie playing on the TV. No one had slept well, and all were feeling lethargic as a result. Tonight, Claire knew, would be another battle, but not sleeping was not the answer.

"What do you think happened?" Maisie asked, but before she even finished, the news segment started, with the anchor looking solemnly at the camera.

"We just received breaking news of a dinosaur recapture attempt by the government. The details are still trickling in, but here's what we know so far. The government had located a dinosaur, we are not sure what species yet, in New Mexico. They attempted a rescue operation, starting early this morning just before day break."

"Attempted – that doesn't sound good," Owen commented.

"The security system around the dinosaur, including at least 5 mercenaries we are told, ended up being different from their intel, and the resulting rescue did not proceed as expected."

"Well, that's… diplomatic," Claire rolled her eyes.

"While we don't have final numbers yet, preliminary reports suggest that at least two mercenaries died, and multiple government and military workers were injured, at least one critically so. It is unclear as to the condition of the dinosaur. As this story develops, we will continue to update you–"

Owen hit the mute button, as the segment ended and the three sat quietly on the couch for a minute, processing the news.

"I could've prevented this," Owen finally said.

"How?" Maisie questioned.

"If I had gone–"

"No," Claire disagreed strongly. "Your being there doesn't fix their intel problems. If you were there, we," she gestured to herself and Maisie, "might be answering the phone right now only to find out you're in the hospital, or something worse. You can't put this on you."

"I don't understand," Maisie looked at the tv for a second, before her gaze went between Claire and Owen. "I mean, I know the dinosaurs aren't cuddly little puppy dogs or something, but at Jurassic World, and now on the sanctuary, people were…are able to interact with them without getting hurt. I don't understand why people keep getting hurt now."

"Mutual respect," Owen replied bitterly. He continued when Maisie just looked more confused. "Animals react according to their base instincts. We do, too – the flight or fight response you've talked about in science class. And, like humans, animals range in aggression. We know how important bonding and relationships, especially family, are on reducing aggression in humans. The same goes for animals. Most of these dinosaurs are being raised in isolation. They don't have a family. They aren't being raised around peers or siblings. They have no socialization. Their only reactions are run or attack. And if they're trapped, then really, they only have one option."

"And the mutual respect?" Maisie asked.

"That's Owen's favourite phrase," Claire stated with a fond smile. "Relationships are two-way streets. Each side needs to respect the other. Think of your science teacher, Mr. Reynolds. You respect him, because he treats you and your classmates as equals. And he respects you guys by doing that."

"Right," Owen nodded. "These dinosaurs have never had anyone respect them, and in return, they feel no need to show any respect back."

Claire moved to get up off the couch.

"Where are you going?" Maisie asked, panicked.

"The press conference is still happening tomorrow morning. I need to make a few edits to take into account todays events. I'll just be in my office," Claire reassured her. Her eyes briefly met Owen's as she left the room, both equally concerned with how to deal with Maisie's new clinginess.

x x x

A little while later, Claire heard a soft knock on her door. Normally, when either Maisie or Owen knocked, they would follow it immediately by opening her door and sticking their heads in. This time, though, there was no movement, just a short pause and then a second knock.

"You can come in," Claire called out.

The door opened and Owen stuck his head around. "I wasn't sure if you were too busy. I just … do you have a couple of minutes?"

"Sure, what's up? Where's Maisie?" Claire waved him in, closing her laptop. Even after his comments about her always working, she was finding it hard to drag herself away. There was so much going on, with new information feeling like it was appearing every couple of minutes. But, if Owen was seeking her out, if he actually wanted to talk, she would make the effort to be present for the conversation, to not let her work distract her.

"Maisie fell asleep on the couch," Owen said as he entered her office, moving to stand across from her. He picked up Fred, who seemed to have lasted no long term harm from his impromptu flight across the office and was enjoying life in a new pot.

"Are you here for Fred?" Claire asked a minute later, when Owen still hadn't said anything, his gaze stuck on Fred, as he slowly rotated the pot in his hands.

"See? He's not just a plant," Owen finally looked up at Claire and gave her a small grin. To his relief, Claire just grinned back.

"He's a pretty hardy cactus," she admitted.

"Probably one of a very select few who has experienced flight," Owen joked. He managed to elicit a small chuckle from Claire at that.

"Complete with a crash landing."

He gave a chuckle too, fiddling with Fred for another moment, before placing him back on her desk. "I just wanted…" he swallowed nervously. "After … the mutual respect thing." Another pause, this time accompanied by a deep sigh. "I owe you an apology."

At that, Claire looked at him in surprise. That definitely wasn't what she was expecting to hear.

"I should've told you about the job offer when I first got it. I think, no, I know, that my own issues got in the way. But you're right. What you said the other night. We're supposed to be a team. And–"

"Owen," Claire interrupted him, stopping his rambling. "I'm not mad at you."

"You're not?" Owen stared at her intently for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"What do you mean, am I sure? Of course I'm sure," Claire rolled her eyes. "Owen, these past few weeks, if they've shown us anything, it's that we're both not great at communicating. I should've told you when Wu called. I knew it would make you angry and so I just told him no and hoped that would be enough. I really do wish you felt like you could've told me about the job. Actually," Claire corrected herself. "It's not even about the job. I wish you told me you were unhappy. That you wanted things to change. I don't want you to be unhappy. I know I get caught up in my own work. I always have. I don't know how to change that. It's been the one constant in my life since I was 19 and first interned at Jurassic World. It's my safe place."

"I don't want you to be unhappy, either," Owen replied. "I just wish your safe place was here, with me. With Maisie. I want us to be your safe place."

"I don't know how to change," Claire repeated.

"You don't need to change," Owen reassured. "I'm not asking you to. And, even if our communication skills may need some work, there are things that I do know. I know you love me Claire. I don't doubt that. And I know that I love you. I really hope you don't doubt that. Things may feel a little rocky right now, but I don't want things to change. Not the really big things, anyway. I do need to take this job. But taking it is not about changing you or changing our family. It's just time for me to really rejoin the world."

Claire got up and moved around the desk until she was standing in front of him. "I'm not worried about the job. I know we can make things work with it. And I'm really happy for you – for getting the proposal accepted and for taking it. You'll be great at it. It is time you get back out there." She quirked an eyebrow and added, "I do think you should be prepared for nonstop requests for a dog though. Maisie is not going to let that go."

Owen laughed at that, and it was almost like a dam burst, some of the tension finally draining away. He pulled her towards him, arms wrapping around her. "I really do love you."

"I know," Claire smiled at him. She stretched up, one arm wrapped around his waist, the other on his shoulder, pulling him down towards her. "I love you, too," she said softly, just before her lips met his.

x x x

Maisie was quiet over dinner that evening. She silently helped Claire clean the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. She listened as Owen talked about doing some work on his motorcycle and Claire mentioned wanting to run through her statement a few more times in preparation for tomorrow. As the final dish was put away, she trailed out of the kitchen after them both. She froze, however, when Claire headed into her office and Owen turned towards the garage.

Except for the couple of hours when Claire and Owen had gone to the police station to see Wu, she had been able to stick by them both since the men had broke into her room. If one of them was busy, the other had always been there.

What was she supposed to do now? She could go to the garage with Owen but watching him work was so boring. Even when he let her help, it was never fun. On the other hand, sitting in Claire's office listening to her repeat the same speech over and over again didn't sound any more exciting. She thought about taking her iPad out to the garage, but it was still up in her room, and she wasn't about to venture there on her own. Not yet.

Over dinner Claire and Owen had both talked about getting a security system installed. They had (only briefly) also debated cutting down the tree (or at least a limb on it) outside her window. She hadn't said much of anything, just nodding along. She knew they were trying to put her at ease. They kept talking about how they weren't going to be "scared out of their house." She wished she had the same strength and courage they did.

"Everything ok, Mais?"

She looked up and saw that Claire was standing in the doorway to her office, hand on the door like she'd been in the middle of closing it when she noticed Maisie still standing there.

She wanted to say yes but couldn't get the words out. Instead, she just shrugged, looking down the hall where Owen had gone. He was already out of sight. A hand on her shoulder startled her, and she almost let out a scream, as she flinched backwards.

"It's just me," Claire's voice was soothing. "Just me. Come here." Claire pulled Maisie into a hug, which she sunk into gratefully, wrapping her arms tightly around Claire.

"I'm sorry," Maisie mumbled.

"Sorry?" Claire just held her tighter. "There's nothing to be sorry about. It's been a really tough few days, hasn't it?"

Maisie nodded against her, choosing not to say anything and just accept the comfort.

"It's okay to be scared," Claire whispered a few minutes later. "I'm scared too, you know."

"You're scared?" Maisie looked up at her in disbelief. Claire and Owen were never scared. "Nothing scares you."

"That's not true!" Claire disagreed. "Spiders are terrifying – all those legs." She shuddered dramatically and got a hint of a smile from Maisie. She turned serious. "But what scares me the most, is something happening to you. Or to Owen. Those guys? They won't be back. And Owen and I, we will do anything and everything we can to keep you safe."

"Do I have to sleep in my room?" Maisie asked tentatively. "I don't want to."

"No, you don't need to," Claire reassured her. "Not tonight for sure. Let's take it one day at a time. It's still your room, and we want you to feel safe there. We are going to install a security system. If that's not enough, we'll figure out something else, okay?"

Maisie nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Now, I do need to practice a couple more times. But after, how about we watch a movie. Something girly?" Claire questioned, a smile on her face. While Owen and Maisie had watched a lot of movies over the past couple of weeks, she knew that Owen was really good at subtly steering Maisie towards choosing movies he was willing to watch.

Maisie debated for a couple of seconds. Listening to Claire practice would still be boring, but, a musical would be a nice change. And Claire wasn't as enthusiastic about watching movies as Owen was, so she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. She nodded in agreement. "Can we watch Descendants 2?"

"Sure," Claire laughed, knowing it was one of Owen's most dreaded movies. She steered Maisie into her office.

x x x

Claire, Owen, and Maisie arrived at the DPG headquarters an hour before the press conference was scheduled. Maisie had been informed that she was not allowed to attend the actual event, but they also were not about to leave her at home alone. Franklin and Zia would be participating in the press conference, and with everything going on they didn't want to have Maisie go over to a friends house. Instead, they had decided that she would hang out at the DPG headquarters with some of the other employees. They knew it meant she would see the press conference, but they weren't naive enough to think that if she didn't watch it live, she wouldn't watch it later on Youtube or somewhere else.

The actual press conference was going to take place a couple of blocks away at a park. Originally, they had hoped to do so out of the DPG offices, enjoying the idea of the camera showing all the employees diligently working away. The lively and excited atmosphere of the office was also engaging and positive. However, the RSVPs started arriving in a hurry. And then, it was picked up across social media, and interest grew outside of the normal reporters and news networks. It became clear the office was going to be much too small for the gathering, and so they had relocated it.

"Are you nervous?" Maisie asked Claire, who was sitting in her office, flipping through a stack of cue-cards. "I'd be nervous."

"A little," Claire admitted. "But I've also done a lot of these, so it's not as bad as it was when I had my first one. Mainly, I'm just looking to get it over with. I know it won't fix everything, but it's definitely a step forward."

"Is Owen going to have to talk too?" Maisie looked worried at that thought. "I don't know if you should let him."

Claire laughed at that. It was well known that Owen and reporters did not mix. "No, he won't have to talk. He's going to be there for mostly moral support and to make it clear that he is in agreement with our statement."

It wasn't long after, that Claire, Zia, Franklin, and Owen headed out with a few more staffers tagging along. They timed it so they would only arrive at the park a few minutes before the scheduled press conference. They didn't want to give reporters much chance to start throwing questions before they were ready.

They spent those few minutes checking that everything was properly set up (several staffers had gone down earlier to set up a podium and microphone so reporters would know where to gather). Claire placed her cue-cards on the podium, before turning to face the other three. The plan was that they would stand with her, but that she'd be the one talking.

She wasn't sure why this was making her nervous. She'd done hundreds of press conferences over the years. And she survived the messy fallout of Jurassic World. There was no way this could be nearly as bad as that. But, she was, and she found herself constantly shifting, nervous energy radiating out.

"You'll be fine," Zia reassured her. "Walk in the park." Zia looked around, before adding with a laugh. "Literally."

Franklin just gave her a nervous smile. In order to even show up with them today, they had had to promise multiple times he would not have to speak.

"Hey," Owen took a step closer to her side, reaching down and threading his fingers through hers. He looked over his shoulder at the reporters gathering. "We're with you."

"Promise me you won't punch anyone," Claire begged, her eyes taking in his still healing black eye. They (she and Zia) had tried to convince him to let them cover it up with makeup, but he'd refused. Said people should see the physical toll this was taking on their family. They'd let their arguments drop.

A minute later, someone came over to nudge them that it was time to get started. Claire nodded, taking a deep breath. She gave the other three a smile, and then led the way to the podium, hand still clasped with Owen's.

They stood, with Owen on her right, Zia to her left, and Franklin next to Zia. Claire looked out over the crowd. Taking a moment to take it all in, she noticed there was a group of people at the back with protest signs that proclaimed "save the dinosaurs" and "animals aren't weapons." There were a couple of counter-protestors with "kill all the dinosaurs" signs, that she immediately ignored. There also appeared to be people gathering who were more just curious about what was going on. As she stood there, the crowd slowly grew quiet.

"Hi, thank you for coming out today. My name is Claire Dearing and I am the founder of the Dinosaur Protection Group, also known as the DPG." She paused, making sure that she had everyone's attention. "I am here today with many DPG staffers, including two longtime employees Zia Rodriguez and Franklin Webb." She pointed to each as she introduced them. "I am also here with Dr. Owen Grady," she gestured at Owen as well. They had decided that they weren't going to introduce him as her husband, since he was there specifically because he'd also been sought out by the government, not because of his relationship to her. However, should anyone not know that fact (and considering that every time Maisie was talked about on the news they also mentioned that her guardians were the two of them, it would be surprising if there was anyone left), the fact that the two were holding hands was probably a big give away. She chose to just ignore that, not wanting to give up the comfort of his hand.

"We are here today because we have been approached by the government with separate two proposals. One proposal was brought directly to the DPG, while the second was presented to Dr. Grady. However, our response to these proposals is a joint one. And so we all stand here, united, and speaking with a single voice.

"As you are likely aware, there have been multiple reports of militarized dinosaur field tests, along with the more recent attempted dinosaur rescue. The government approached us wanting the DPG's help in relocating any captured dinosaurs to the sanctuary, along with Dr. Grady's assistance in the planning and execution of the rescues. However, the government has not been upfront with either us or with the public. And so, we felt the best way to respond to these requests was through the press.

"The DPG is committed to the protection of the remaining dinosaurs that were saved from Isla Nublar and then recaptured in California. We believe that the dinosaurs are magnificent animals that deserve our support and respect. However, we do have a line. The DPG believes that dinosaurs are worth protecting, but we will not protect any hybrids. The Jurassic World and the Lockwood Estates incidents can both be directly traced back to the creation of the hybrid dinosaurs the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor. These creatures are not dinosaurs, but a twisted manifestation of some of humanity's worst desires, as carried out by Henry Wu. These creatures do not deserve protection.

"The government has failed to properly inform the public that at least one of the recent dinosaurs involved in a field test is actually a hybrid. And they have also failed to inform you that they have located at least two, that we know of, dinosaurs right here on US soil. Their inability to be transparent, both with us, and with the public at large, is why we have come forward. It is not fair to be putting any members of the military or otherwise into compromised positions without the full facts. We don't know yet what exactly went wrong with the rescue operation yesterday. But underestimating the intelligence of these dinosaurs has been our downfall before. It is high time that the government learns that lesson too.

"We also believe there is another area the government is not being truthful about. We do not believe that they are merely interested in the safe rescue and relocation of these dinosaurs. And the fact that they approached Dr. Grady, in our opinion, confirms this. Dr. Grady was the first to work directly on dinosaur intelligence, when he worked for InGen on Isla Nublar. And prior to that, he worked on marine mammal intelligence as a member of the Navy. He has a PhD in animal behaviour and will be soon joining a research team at UCSF working on a project with service dogs in conjunction with the VA and the DoD. Because of the government's interest in Dr. Grady, we believe that the government is motivated by military goals, not the dinosaurs welfare.

"The DPG will always be willing to rescue and protect dinosaurs. Should the government find and rescue any, we are willing to work with them on relocating the dinosaurs to the sanctuary, assuming it will be in the best interest of the dinosaurs already living there.

"While the DPG currently has the contract to run the sanctuary, it will be coming up for renewal in the next year. We hope we will still be able to continue the important work we do in protecting these wonderful animals. We believe that the dinosaurs should belong to no one person or corporation. That they should not and do not belong to any one country. On that note, we will also be applying to the UN to make the sanctuary a United Nations Protected Area.

"Thank you."

Claire finally was able to take a deep breath, her fingers still lightly trembling. She squeezed Owen's hand, and he squeezed back, leaning in every so slightly to tell her, "Great job."

The crowd looking back at her was stunned. The reporters frantically jotting down notes and sending texts and tweets.

She squared her shoulders and then spoke again. "Any questions?"

x x x

The response to the DPG press conference was swift and furious. Clips of Claire speaking were flying around social media paired with clips of government officials being cornered, all uttering the same two words: "No comment."

The DPG had become masters of using social media to their advantage. It had been a matter of necessity to learn how after the Lockwood incident and they exploited that knowledge now. There were rally's being arranged in major cities across the country and around the world. People were updating their avatar images on social media to include slogans like "no to hybrid dinos," "save the real dinos" and "dinosaurs aren't weapons."

Pundits on radio shows and tv were picking apart the statement and debating where and how the government should be stepping in. What should be the bounds for their involvement? What should the American people be willing to accept?

Ian Malcolm, no surprise, was once again a sought after guest on these shows, where he continued to push his view that it was people or the dinosaurs. With the hybrid dinosaurs, he felt even more strongly. He repeated his favourite line, that the unleashing of genetic power was inevitably going to be catastrophic.

When asked if he thought the government should destroy the sanctuary, he fell back on an old standard of his. That everything that had happened, that everything that would happen, well, "it ain't going to stop with the de-extinction of the dinosaurs."

Whew. Things are starting to wrap up. And hey! Claire and Owen finally kissed. :P

I'd love to hear what you thought about the Wu conversation. I had a lot of fun writing that. The more time I ponder Wu, the more I like the character. Even after 5 movies he's still a conundrum and we don't know what's quite motivating him. Hubris?

Reader comments and reviews really help me write a better story. The Maisie/Claire scene in this chapter came out specifically because of Shian1998's review.

x x x

This weeks author rec goes to Ragingbulldurham who posts over on AO3. She has some great angst-y post JW fics. I particularly like In the During of a Moment and Something We Just Know.

Anyone have any author recs to send back to me?